Wisconsin Department of Justice | WisDOJ



41910-588010P.O. Box 7857Madison, WI 53707-7857doj.state.wi.usBRAD D. SCHIMELATTORNEY GENERALNEWS RELEASEFebruary 23, 2016 Contact: Anne E. Schwartz 608-266-6686ATTORNEY GENERAL BRAD SCHIMEL ANNOUNCES SETTLEMENT WITH NATIXIS AND SOCIETE GENERALE TOTALLING OVER $56 MILLION Attorney General Brad D. Schimel announced that Natixis and Societe Generale will pay $29,950,000 and $26,750,000 respectively to settle allegations regarding their conduct in the municipal bond derivative markets as part of a coordinated settlement with 21 other states.Pursuant to the settlements, $53,865,000 will be paid into a Settlement Fund that will provide restitution for municipalities, counties, government agencies, school districts, and nonprofits that entered into municipal derivatives contracts with Natixis or Societe Generale.The settlements are the sixth and seventh settlements resulting from a multistate investigation led by the Attorneys General of New York and Connecticut, in parallel with the U.S. Department of Justice and other federal regulatory agencies. In 2008, a group of 22 state Attorneys General began their investigation of the municipal bond derivatives market, where governments and nonprofit organizations issue municipal bonds and reinvest the proceeds until the funds are needed or enter into contracts to hedge interest rate risk.The investigations of Natixis and Societe Generale employees and their counterparts at other institutions included whether the banks rigged bids, submitted noncompetitive courtesy bids and fraudulent certificates of arms-length bidding to government agencies. The Attorneys General alleged that misconduct led local and state governments, as well as nonprofits, to enter into municipal derivatives contracts on less advantageous terms than they would have rmation concerning the claims process for entities affected by these settlements will be made available later this year.In addition to Wisconsin, other states joining New York and Connecticut in the settlements are: Colorado, District of Columbia, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Tennessee.Assistant Attorney General Gwendolyn J. Cooley represented the state of Wisconsin # # # ................
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